Some Reminders About Group Lottery Play

A lot of groups have fun playing lottery games together, and we've seen pools big and small win prizes here in Iowa through the years. It's a fun thing to do, and hey, you don't want to be the only person still at work Monday when everyone else has won, right?

The Iowa Lottery offers these reminders to keep your pool play fun and hassle free:

Know the rules of your pool and put them in writing. Group play details should be discussed, written and
distributed to all members as the group's official rules. Some issues you may want to cover include: If
a regular playing member is not present on lottery collection day will they be included or excluded? What if
a regular player has someone else put in money towards their game share, do both players receive an equal share?
Can players come in and out of the group? When the rules are in writing, there is no question about how to split
the funds.

Keep a list of everyone who puts in money for a particular drawing and how much they contribute.

Provide everyone in your pool with copies of the group's tickets before the drawing. This should include
the identifying numbers on the back of the tickets. You may also want to tell people the name and address of the
retail location where the tickets were purchased and the approximate time of the purchase.

If the person buying the tickets for your pool also wants to buy tickets on their own, the two purchases
should be kept separate. You may even want to consider buying the two sets of tickets at different stores so it
is clear which tickets are for the group and which are for that individual person.

Put together a list of the names and telephone numbers of everyone in your pool. In particular, you should
have that information for the people who are in charge of buying the tickets and the person who will hold the tickets.

If you win a prize as part of a group, there is a form you'll need to fill out to indicate that the
prize is being claimed by more than one person. It's called IRS Form 5754 and we have copies of it on hand
at our offices or you can find it on the IRS website along with instructions for filling it out. The form must
be given to the lottery at the time the prize is being claimed.

Maintenance co-workers at Future Foam in Council Bluffs played Mega Millions together and split a $10,000 prize in April 2012.

Two couples from southern Iowa who called themselves the Hog Hut Friends split a $1 million Powerball prize in August 2009.

Twenty laboratory employees at Medical Associates in Clinton shared a $667,142 Powerball prize in February 2006.

Player Info

The Iowa Lottery makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the winning numbers, prize payouts and other information
posted on the Iowa Lottery website. The official winning numbers are those selected in the respective drawings and recorded
under the observation of an independent accounting firm. In the event of a discrepancy, the official drawing results shall
prevail. All names, logos and information contained within these pages are meant for personal use only and may not be
reproduced or distributed without the expressed written consent of the Iowa Lottery. You must be at least 21 years old to purchase
Iowa Lottery tickets. Please play responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please call 1-800-BETSOFF for help.